Zachary Glen

I found out I was pregnant while I was in CA to help my sister when she had one of her babies. She had actually gone to the hospital in labor and I took the test. So we knew for a day that we were pregnant at the same time! I had severe exhaustion with this pregnancy. And by the time I got back home I was hardly able to stay awake. It lasted quite awhile this time. I also kept getting sick. I had several bladder infections and sinus infections while pregnant.

Because of insurance related issues I had to have a hospital birth. I was NOT happy about this. I did end up seeing a group of 4 midwives and actually liked all of them. The one I liked the most ended up being the one on call when I went to the hospital.

2 days after my due date I had an appt. My blood pressure was really high. So an hour later they checked it again and it was still high. They also did a non-stress test and the baby was fine. I also had a blood draw. So they told me I could go home and do a 24 hr urine test and come back in 24 hrs for another blood draw. Or I could just go to the hospital for an induction. Neither option was desirable. I went to the car and talked it over with James. We decided that since we lived an hour away and there was an ice storm coming in it would probably be a good idea to just be induced so we wouldn't have to rush to the hospital, in labor, during an ice storm.

We went home and took the kids to the people who were watching them for us. Got our stuff and headed up to the hospital. We got there and they started with the prostaglandin around 11:30 pm. In the morning they moved my to a labor and delivery room and James went to pick my mom up from the airport. Sometime around 9 am they hooked me up to the pitocin. They started really low and upped it very slowly. Still, hurts way more than natural contractions.

Twice we thought I was in transition but the first time I was only at 5 and the second at 7. It was not easy at all! Sometime after that the midwife went to check my and my water broke. I did not want that to happen because of the cord issues with Kathleen and Michelle. I was very paranoid at that point. The midwife was very apologetic, but it wasn't like she did it on purpose. Thankfully my water was clear and no bleeding occurred.

After that the contractions were so hard and coming so close together that I couldn't deal with it any longer. I felt like I was losing it during contractions so I asked for something to take the edge off. (Up to that point the nurses were all very good about respecting my initial desire of no meds in labor, none of them even mentioned it) I got 1 shot of stadol. It didn't take away much of the pain, but it made me "loopy" enough that I could get through the rest of the contractions.

Zachary was born at 11:43 pm, on January 7th, after 24 hrs of labor. He weighed 7 lbs 15 oz. He had a TON of dark hair, with several swirls in it. We named him Zachary Glen. The Glen being from my great grandpa.

While I wasn't happy about being in the hospital, it did end up being a good thing. After I had him he latched on really well. But then after they moved me to a recovery room we spent all night latching on and then him letting go and crying. Until about 8 am when he finally fell asleep. I was so sore, I was bleeding. I asked for a lactation consultant. I knew something was wrong but didn't know what. She came in right after they took him out to do his circumcision (Not going to debate that, it's our decision, if you don't circumcise that's fine, we do). I told her what was going on and she asked some questions. The only thing I had "noticed" was at one point when he was crying it looked like the tip of his tongue was heart shaped. She immediately said she's go check him and be right back. She came back and said her and the Dr had checked him and sure enough he had an issue called "tongue tied". The line of skin under his tongue had literally tied the end of his tongue to his gums. He couldn't move it up, forward or backwards, so he couldn't latch on properly. They ended up getting an ENT and he was able to cut it right there in my room. We were able to leave the hospital a few hours later.

He was able to eat after that, but we still had a very difficult first week. He had a very sore tongue and had to learn to use it properly and I was already sore from the first night. But we got the hang of it and he nursed for 18 mos.

He still has pretty thick hair, but it is now blond as can be. He's a very ornery, energetic little guy. He is such a ham and adores his older brothers. Always wants to play football or frisbee with them. He has just recently started talking up a storm. He went from just random words here and there, but mostly gibberish, to talking in sentences pretty much over-night.

Blessings, ♥T

Makenzie Emma

We were very happy to find out I was pregnant with baby #4. In February when I was 9 weeks I started bleeding. Went for an U/S and it showed that the baby was only 6 weeks and we couldn't see a heartbeat. My midwife had me do an HCG count. It did not double in the 48 hrs like it was supposed to. In fact it barely went up. I was very distressed and tried to prepare myself for a miscarriage. My MIL came and stayed with us for a week so I could be on bedrest. I stopped bleeding and nothing happened. 3 weeks later I went in for another U/S and it showed a very healthy 9 week baby. Apparently my dates were off, though we don't know what caused the bleeding.

After that everything went well. I went to CA in July to be in my sisters wedding. James and I went to Hawaii right after and had a great time! Not easy though to explore Hawaii when you're great with child :)

At my last official appt she was in a breech position. My mom came out a week before my due date. My labor started on Saturday morning on the 25th, 3 days before my due date. I thought for sure I was going to have a baby early for a change. The midwife came out and checked me. I was only to a 3 and the contractions were starting to space out. I continued like this all day Saturday and Sunday. Sunday evening I went to church to distract myself. Didn't help much. Monday I went to my midwife appt. No change and the contractions just kept getting strong and close and then petering out. The midwife checked her and she was still breech. Her heart rate was good and everything was great. While we were talking about having a breech birth I could feel the baby moving around and the midwife wanted to check her again before I left. She started feeling around and asked me if I had felt her moving around while we were talking. I said yes. She said "she's head down now". Craziness. She was very excited though as she doesn't get many breech babies. Since this was my 4th baby it was obvious I wouldn't have much problem with her head getting stuck. So she wasn't concerned if she turned again :)

We went home and things continued like this till the next day. On Tuesday contractions really got stronger, but would never stay regular. The midwife had said to keep track of them and call her when they got regular and stayed that way for an hour straight. That never happened, but at some point (I think in transition) I told my mom "I don't care if they're regular, call her now I want her here". So she called and the midwife was on her way. 15 minutes later my water broke. They called my midwife and let her know. She tried to hurry, but ended up getting in front of a highway patrol car. No speeding for her! Lol.

About 45 mins after my water broke I could feel her head coming. My mom was telling me not to push because she didn't know if my cervix was dilated or not. I thought to myself "doesn't matter her head is coming out, I must be dilated". I had to push, so I did. Her head came out and the midwife walked in. My mom started to move out of her way and the midwife told her to stay there! The midwife checked and there was a cord over one of her shoulders, which she pushed off and then I was able to push her the rest of the way out.

At 12:01 am, October 29th, Makenzie Emma came into the world into her Nana's hands! She was 8 lbs 8 oz and she did NOT come out breech! She turned again before she was born. She did have a knot in her cord though, so apparently she was always a very active baby ;)

Makenzie is a very laid back little girl. Loves pretty, girly things and loves babies. She is always a little mother to our new babies. She is very talented on the piano. She was a bit slow in her learning to read. She just finally in the last few months started reading and is so happy about it.

Blessings, ♥T

Jason Wesley

We were really excited to find out I was expecting baby #2. I took the test and left it in the bathroom, James read the results and told me. :D I was really hoping for a girl. At my ultrasound the technician wasn't allowed to tell me the sex til she had it confirmed with the head technician, but as she was doing the ultrasound I could see the parts and said "it's a boy". She was all surprised and said "you can see that?" Um duh, obviously I could! lol... I was slightly disappointed but was happy that James Michael was going to have a little brother.

I didn't have a very eventful pregnancy. I did get big quite quickly and everyone thought it was twins. But nope, just one BIG boy! I looked like a torpedo at the end :)

I had my appt on Friday the 20th, 5 days after my due date. She checked me and stripped my membranes. That was around 3 pm. By 4 pm I was in active labor. I called the midwife on call and she said I could come in or just wait til I wanted to come in. I decided to wait. Finally around 10 pm we decided to go in. I was at a 5 almost 6. So we of course stayed. I got to a 6 and stayed there for a few hours. They broke my water and I got to a 7 and stayed there for a few hours. They decided to give me some pitocin to speed things up. Um, yeah, that was a bad idea! Yes, it made things go faster, but it also made it much more painful. From that point I ended up getting 2 shots of stadol.

I finally got to 9 with a lip and the midwife said I could push with the next contraction and she would push it off. So I did and with just a few minutes of pushing at 4:43 am October 21st, I gave birth to a chunky 8 lb 2 oz dark haired, dark eyed, beautiful baby boy!

We named him Jason Wesley, after my husband cousin/best friend who died of CF. His middle name is the same as my husbands.

He is a very smart and talented boy. Very athletically and musically inclined. In just one semester he went through an entire piano course. He loves to wrestle with his brother and is just through and through BOY!

Don't have many pictures since he was born pre-digital camera :) But are some recent ones!

Blessings, ♥T